


If The World Was Ending (You’d Come Over, Right?)

by lemondrop23



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Exes, F/M, Zombie Apocalypse, beginning of apocalypse, beth greene - Freeform, daryl dixon - Freeform, exes au, more tags will be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:47:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25956235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lemondrop23/pseuds/lemondrop23
Summary: Once upon a time, Daryl Dixon and Beth Greene were in love. It was a passionate, intense, hot, and fast...but eventually, it fell apart. The love they had shared completely dissolved, and they both did their best to forget what it was they once had.Fast forward to present day when this so called "outbreak" of the walking dead began. With no chance of survival on her own, Beth rushed off to the only place that she knew she would be safe, to the only person that would make her feel safe. Daryl.Will the two of them try to rebuild what it was they once had as the rest of the world breaks apart around them?
Relationships: Daryl Dixon & Beth Greene, Daryl Dixon/Beth Greene
Comments: 23
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is based on the song (of the same title) by JP Saxe. The second I heard it, I knew that I had to write this to Bethyl. I usually do roleplay writing rather than fic writing so if it isn’t that good… I’m sorry haha. This first chapter is just to lay the groundwork. More details from their previous relationship (maybe flashbacks??) will come! Any comments, feedback, and kudos are appreciated! Also I'm so bad at writing descriptions haha, and this is still a clearly unfinished work so I'm not 100% sure just where I want this to all go just yet!

The dead were walking the streets among the living, devouring their flesh and having no mercy. Or at least, that’s what the people on TV were saying as it played in the background of Daryl’s apartment. Daryl hadn’t left his place just yet after the news broke – he was too busy gathering up any kind of useful supply or non-perishable food that he could find scattered about his place, and trying to make a plan as to where to go. _Remain calm_ was the only advice the news could give people at the moment. They didn’t have much of an explanation as to how this came to be, if there would be any kind of resolution, or how to remain safe. Just to stay _calm_. _Right_ , Daryl thought. As though there was a way for people to _remain calm_ over the fact that the dead have now reanimated to come back and eat them alive.

He could run off to the woods himself. Find his dad’s old cabin that was hidden away and stay there until things eased up. If they eased up. Or he could go into town (where everyone else was evacuating) and start raiding the stores, taking whatever the hell he could get his hands on whether it be food or weapons or batteries. _Anything_ , really. Or maybe he could go the county prison and get Merle the hell out of there. With the world seemingly, literally, going to hell, he kind of doubted that the prison guards were keeping prisoners in or keeping people out. They were probably on their way home to their own families to protect them, and probably left the prisoners locked inside to die. Breaking in and breaking Merle out was an option on the table.

Daryl didn’t know what the best move would be, but he knew that he wasn’t going to stay still, and he definitely knew he wasn’t going to ‘stay calm’. He was going to haul ass and figure out something.

The gunshots outside of his apartment didn’t go unnoticed to him as he was stuffing a duffle bag full of canned goods, but they didn’t deter him. In a way, the noise was something he grew used to over the years – from hunting with his father to living in a less-than-desirable neighborhood, Daryl was damn familiar with the booming sound of gunfire. But this was different. This wasn’t the shooting of a deer in the wild, or some kind of drug related violence that he was used to being near. It was the sound of a gun aiming for some kind of gurgling dead _thing_ taking down a shrieking woman. This was the sound of the end of the world.

A noise that _did_ distract Daryl, however, was the soft three knocks that patted against his apartment’s door. _That_ was unusual. It wasn’t someone in his apartment complex – he knew as much because those people would only come around here if they were planning on raiding his place for any shit they could take to defend themselves with. And knocking was a bit too polite of a gesture to be them. It surely wasn’t Merle, because there wasn’t any way in hell he managed to escape and get here so quickly since this news broke. And…he didn’t exactly have anyone else that he cared about. Or rather, that cared about _him_. There wasn’t anyone in the world that he could imagine being outside of his door, not while _this_ was happening.

He chose to ignore it, but then the knocks came again after about thirty seconds. And then again, after about ten seconds. And then again. And again. And again, until it was just a constant stream of knocks that he couldn’t go on ignoring.

So, Daryl tossed down the bag that was nearly full and announced “I’m coming, **damn** ,” loud enough for _whoever_ it was out there to hear him. Grabbing the handgun on the table beside him (just in case), he walked over to the door and held up the weapon with one hand, reaching the other out to turn the knob and open it, ready to pull the trigger if it was any kind of threat.

When the door finally swung all the way open, it revealed a small, petite blonde with big, scared blue eyes that had quite clearly been crying, her pale hands shaking as she held them before her.

He didn’t just lower the gun; it fell right out of his hands and onto the floor as his body went numb with shock. The last person he ever expected to see again, let alone see _right now_ , was standing there before him, looking like she was nearly about to pass out due to fear that was literally shaking her to her core. Daryl couldn’t find the words to say so he stood there in silence as his brain tried to comprehend just what the hell was happening. _Beth Greene_ was standing there before him. The same Beth Greene that he had fallen stupidly, deeply, madly in love with. The same Beth Greene who had her heart broken by his own hands. The same Beth Greene that Daryl figured would never, ever want to see him again. She was standing here, and he was staring at her without a word.

“I…didn’t know where else to go,” Beth said, deciding to be the first to speak up. Her voice was just as sweet as ever, honey melting in his ears even if there was a shake of fear strung through each word, and her cute southern accent was far softer than his own (something Daryl always appreciated back when they were together). He still didn’t find it within himself to speak up, instead just offering her the slightest head nod. Another gunshot was heard outside, causing the blonde to jump and speak up once more: “Can I come inside?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I am not going to be updating this frequently in the future, I can tell you that. But I ended up starting to write the beginning of everything from Beth's POV and just couldn't stop myself. So. Second chapter in one day it is! Again, any comments or kudos are greatly appreciated!

Beth witnessed it with her own two eyes before the news had even let the headlines break. She had been sitting in a café alone, laptop opened and coffee in hand as she skimmed through emails, and that’s when she heard it. A loud thud of a man across the room, falling to the ground and clutching his chest and falling to a heart attack. The room broke out into chaos, some calling 911, others yelling for a nurse or doctor if they were present in the coffee shop but no one stepped forward. After just a few minutes of the man getting CPR, his breathing had stopped and he died before his eyes.

And surprisingly, that wasn’t even the most tragic thing that occurred during this event. The ambulance finally arrived, and just as the medics were declaring the time of death, the man reanimated. His eyes were lifeless, his jaw was slack open as he made disturbing gurgling noises, and his hands were grasping at neck of the medic that was leaned down over him, pulling him closer and closer to his awaiting teeth. No matter how hard the medic tried to fight it off, he succumbed to the dead man’s (or rather, undead man? Beth wasn’t too sure what was going on) grasp and teeth ended up sinking deep down into his neck. She didn’t stick around to see what the hell happened after that, she bolted for the door along with the other patrons of the shop, a whirlwind of panicked yelling and spilled coffee as they all tried to pile to the door.

Apparently, this wasn’t an isolated incident, either. On her way to her apartment she passed the local hospital in attempts to take the fastest route back home. In hindsight, that turned out to be a mistake – groups of people were evacuating the hospital as those who appeared dead but were clearly alive _to some degree_ chased them, chowed down on them, _turned_ them.

This had to be a nightmare, right? There wasn’t another explanation for this. Going home no longer felt like the safe option, because being _alone_ and defenseless didn’t seem wise. And while she was scared to her core about her mama and daddy and Shawn and Maggie back at the farm, there wasn’t a way in hell she would make it running two towns over to get to them. Her mind was moving at the speed of light as she attempted to think of where to go, but she couldn’t just stay out in the open, vulnerable and frozen like this in front of a near _war zone_.

And that’s when her feet began to move without her even pondering it further. It was like her reflexes kicked in to make the decision that her mind couldn’t make, running her to the only place that she would feel safe.

 **Daryl**.

They hadn’t talked in…a year and a half? Give or take some time. She had stopped counting the months it had been without him in her life once she realized it only seemed to make her more depressed with each passing month. But it didn’t matter how long ago it was since they had last spoken, it didn’t matter to her that he probably wouldn’t want to see her or that, hell, he probably wasn’t even at his place. Knowing how flighty Daryl was, he probably took off the moment this broke out. But none of that mattered to her, because _he_ was the one that she had to see. Beth had to go to Daryl, she had to _be_ with him. If this was the end of the world, she wasn’t going to go without seeing him one more time.

So she took off, running as fast as her skinny legs would let her. She took as many back roads as possible, seeing as the more socially congested areas around her seemed…messy and unrelenting. But even taking the backgrounds, she had no problem at all with the route to his place; the two of them had traveled down these back roads plenty of times, whether it be on Daryl’s motorcycle when they felt like taking a late night ride, or when Beth sat in the passenger seat of his truck singing her lungs out as he tried (and failed) to keep a hardened face as he drove. Yeah, she had been down these roads plenty, so finding her way wasn’t any concern. It was the obstacles that she could possibly encounter that were of concern.

Luckily for her she got through her journey without a scratch. She was a bit winded and out of breath after running, but she still had a sense of relief flowing through her just from standing at the entrance of the familiar apartment complex. However, she didn’t have enough time to take in that sensation because there was a loud bang of a gunshot far too close for comfort to her and she had to get inside. She had to get to _Daryl_.

Just walking up to his apartment made Beth’s mind flood with memories; the time that she got just a _little_ too drunk and couldn’t walk a straight line so Daryl decided to lift her up over his shoulder and carry her himself (despite her laughing pleas to put her down). Getting caught in a thunderstorm and having their clothes get soaked to their skin and having to run through these very halls to get into his place and out of those clothes as fast as possible. But…she had to snap herself out of those thoughts. She wasn’t running her now, ready to get her hands on her boyfriend. She was running down the halls to escape the wrath of the dead to her ex for….a reason she didn’t quite know herself just yet.

Beth made it to his door and stood there for a second, almost reconsidering her actions. He wouldn’t want her here. What if he had another girlfriend? What if he was too busy protecting her to care about where little ol’ Beth Greene went? But it was _too late_. She had to get outside of this hallway and to at least some form of safety. So she forced herself to knock on his door with one hand, the other hand crossing it’s fingers as she awaited a response.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah I want to say thank you to everyone for the kudos and comments, it's really appreciated! I'm glad people are enjoying this concept and I'm excited to keep writing it! As always feedback is welcome :)

It would be a lie to say that Daryl didn’t think of Beth every so often - honestly, probably more than he should since they had broken up over a year ago. It was just the little things that would make memories of her pop back into his brain; the songbirds outside of the window that woke him up in the early mornings at times would sing a melody he swore he heard her sing before, the wildflowers that grew in the woods nearby made him think of her favorite floral dress, the sun reflecting across a clear lake would make him think of how brightly her eyes shined. And each and every time one of those thoughts would enter his mind, he tried to push it out just as fast as it came in, tried to remind himself that she was _gone_. 

Then there were times where he couldn’t push the memories out of his brain. When he didn’t _want_ to push those thoughts away. Where vivid images and memories of her would just flood his brain and he would just...let himself drown in them. Usually this was after a few drinks, when he would be laying in bed alone and having such a strong memory of how it felt to have her curled up against him, or the feeling of the weight of her head on his chest, or how his arm always so perfectly could curl around her thin waist to hold her close. Sure, maybe he would feel even more upset afterwards and even more alone, but for a moment to bask in memories that gave him such comfort...it was worth it. 

But he knew that they were just that - memories. Daydreams. He had accepted long ago that that’s all he would have left of Beth, that he would never see her again in the flesh. And if he did, it’d be absolutely accidental, like both happening to go to the same supermarket at the same time, and he would deal with that the best way he knew how - hiding and then ducking out to hopefully go unnoticed by her, as to not have to address any kind of emotions that were still lingering inside. Pushing his feelings down rather than dealing with them - the same reason that the two of them ended things in the first place. But here Beth was, standing before him face-to-face _purposefully_ , and there wasn’t really a way for Daryl to run away from this. 

To her question, he simply offered a small nod and a hum of approval to allow her to come inside, taking a step back from the doorway to allow her to enter. His eyes were locked on Beth even as he remained silent, watching her every move as she moved around his apartment. Not out of suspicion, not because he would ever even _imagine_ Beth coming here for some shady reason, but out of **confusion** . Of all the places in the world she could go right now, out of all the friends he knew she had (and a boyfriend that he would _assume_ she would have by now), she decided to come to his place. To _him_. And that just… baffled him. 

Beth could feel his eyes on her before she even turned around to look at him, and she was coming to realize that maybe she should have thought of an explanation to tell him on her way over here. She should have thought about what it was she would say when he, no doubt, questioned what in the hell she was doing _here_ as the world came crumbling down around them. And she couldn’t exactly say something like ‘You were the first person I wanted to check on, the only person I knew would know how to handle this because you always knew how to handle _everything_ in serious situations, the only person I wanted to be with if I was going to die like this’ without seeming insanely desperate, and probably scare him off just like she did when they were _in_ a relationship.

She turned around to find her suspicion was correct, that his eyes were staring at her quizzically, and instead of offering any kind of explanation for a moment, she briefly glanced around the place before bringing her eyes back to him. “I see you reorganized everything. Looks nice.” No response came from him as he continued to stare at her, clearly still waiting for an answer to his unasked question. 

“You know more about survival than anyone I know,” she said, finally offering some insight into her decision making, even if it wasn’t the _full_ reasoning behind it. “Y’know how to hunt, how to protect yourself. You’re strong. Can track things. Can use a gun and your bow and you’re smart. Y’know everythin’ like that. If anyone out there would know what to do in this moment and how to handle any of this… Just thought it would be you.” 

Daryl understood it then. Of course it was about self-preservation. She wanted to be with him right then not because she wanted to check on him, or that she missed him. She was afraid of being alone in this world and wanted to be with someone who had experience with that. Beth wanted someone to protect her and keep her safe and _alive_. He couldn’t blame her for that - he was sure that a lot of people out there right now were looking for someone who could offer that level of protection to them. It just so happened that Daryl was that person for Beth. Nothing more. 

When Daryl still didn’t respond, Beth shook her head and awkwardly shifted her eyes to the ground. “I can leave, I-” 

“ _No_ ,” Daryl said, finally mustering up the ability to speak his first word to her. What kind of _asshole_ would he be to kick out a defenseless, scared girl out to the curb and leave her for dead? His ex or not, he wasn’t going to do that to her. If he could protect her, then he would. He always would. “Don’t go. Y’can stay. Ain’t gonna be stayin’ here long. Was packin’ up to leave here soon, but. Y’can tag along.” 

Beth felt a wave of relief hit her when Daryl _finally_ spoke up, grateful for the offer. Daryl was a good person, she knew that with her whole heart, so it wasn’t a _surprise_ that he would let her come along with him to wherever his destination was. But she knew that he had every damn right to tell her to get lost if he so wanted to, he didn’t _have_ to let her weigh him down like she inevitably would. 

“We should go anywhere right now,” Beth stated definitively. “I saw what it was like right now. S’chaos, there’s too many people out there, and more people are gonna keep goin’ out there. We should leave early in the mornin’.” If he was going to let her stay with him, she would at least offer what information and insight she had. 

There was another moment of silence that came after that, Daryl trying to weigh the pros and cons of leaving now versus leaving later. They go now, they had more of a chance of being able to raid a place before it all emptied out. But if it was really that chaotic then it could very well be a bloodbath out there. And getting supplies wouldn’t be any good if they wound up dead shortly after. “Alright,” he finally responded. “We leave before the sun comes up. For now, settle in.” And almost as if on cue, another gunshot rang outside that made Beth jump in her place. “S’gonna be a long night.”


End file.
